A Lifeful of Lies – Chapter 9

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Toshiro tried very hard not to fidget, which was admittedly quite impossible to do. Not because he was currently on top of Minazuki – since the zanpakutou was actually flying rather smoothly – but because of the piercing scrutinize from a pair of brown eyes.

It was so tempting to just escape into his inner world. And he would have done so ages ago too, should he not have been so sure that all that would achieve was an annoyed Hyorinmaru kicking him out again. Perhaps this time literally.

He was not that desperate as to incur his zanpakutou's ire, for Hyorinmaru's lecture thereafter would not worth the attempt. The ice dragon could go on scolding him for days. And he could do nothing short of leaving his zanpakutou behind – which was not an option – to escape it.

The disadvantage of having your own personal caretaker – he scowled when he could not find a better word describing the mother hen side of his zanpakutou – living in your mind.

'Deep breath, Young Master.'

The voice echoing in his head shook him off his distracted mind ramble. Only then he realized just how tight his grip was on his zanpakutou sword.

'There you go,' the dragon coaxed as he forced his fingers to relax, however slightly. 'You will need to be calm, Young Master, or you will not be able to present your story right.'

Stay with me?

The plea was a touch desperate, he knew. But seeing as his whole world was about to not only be turned upside down, but also shaken up in the process, he thought it was rather justified.

An almost overwhelming – but instead, comforting – waves of fondness enveloped him and he felt himself relaxing further in return.

'Always.'

Stealing a glance to where Captain Unohana was waiting patiently beside him, he bit back a groan. This was not what he meant when he said he would answer her question. It was really more of making a report, preferably in front of all the captains, since he was not planning to explain his story for more than once.

But of course, Captain Unohana had different plan. And he really could not win against her.

So he took at deep breath and steeled himself.

"I have an eidetic memory," he began, glancing at the older captain, "I think you've already guessed this." Seeing the captain of the fourth division nodded, Toshiro fidgeted a little.

"The earliest I could remember was when I was about a couple of months old. I might not understand what happened at that time, but in later years..." his hand made a vague motion as he struggled to explain his situation. He should have taken some time to gather his thought before speaking. But Captain Unohana did not really give him any other option.

"They were mostly of Granny," he continued, " But every so often, someone would come and stay for a few hours, rarely days. I remembered looking forward to his visits. He called me his little angle."

A fond smile spread across his face, remembering vividly how his father would cuddle with him each time he visited.

"He was the one who taught me how to walk, " and it was quite a feat too, seeing that, as a baby, he was far too fond of crawling to want to walk. His father was very persistent though, reverting to bribing him with amanatto when cooing did not work.

His smile fell when he realised what he needed to say next. And there was no turning back too. Captain Unohana would simply not allow it.

"I..." he hesitated for a moment, wondering how he should phrase this. "I called him father. No. Not just called. He is my father."

Gathering courage to look at the older captain, he was met with a spark of understanding in a pair of gentle brown eyes and had to close his eyes for a moment and held his head down.

He'd done it.

He had given away his secret – what he had sworn to keep to himself – to someone other than Hyorinmaru. His feeling was still rather conflicted about this. After all, he had guarded this information for his whole life. Not even Granny knew that he remembered his father.

'It's all well, Young Master,' Hyorinmaru's soothing voice echoed in his head, 'You're doing well.'

Drawing comfort from his zanpakuto, he opened his eyes, still looking at his knees, "You have already made the connection."

It was said as a statement, but Captain Unohana answered nonetheless.

"Ichimaru Gin is your father."

There was no hint of doubt in her voice and he could only nod, finally looking up to look at the older captain in the eyes. And as a pair of turquoise orbs locked gaze with another of brown, his heart was beating frantically in his thin chest, as if wanting to escape from this conversation. Too bad neither of them could.

"Yes," he gulped nervously. "He used to visit me. In Rukongai. And I remember every single visit that he made when I was a baby, up until my early toddler years. He stopped when he thought I would start forming conscious memories of him."

"That's why he looked so horrified when I told him I thought you have an eidetic memory," Captain Unohana mused out loud, brown eyes still trained on him. "He realised that you know he's your father."

"Not just that."

Toshiro bit his lip lightly as the older captain looked at him curiously. Because while hiding his parentage might not get him into trouble with Gotei 13, this one might.

"Otousan liked to talk about things," he started, heart soaring at the fact that he could now refer to his father as otousan instead of Ichimaru. "Like how he'd love it if he, okaasan and I live together, instead of living separately. Or how okaasan would love to spoil me rotten. And how he missed the two of us. But sometimes... Sometimes, it was not about happy things. Sometimes, he'd talk about Aizen."

His grip on Hyorinmaru tightened, seeing the alarmed look on Captain Unohana's face.

"Sometimes," he forced himself to continue. "He'd talk about how he hated Aizen. About how he'd do anything to protect okaasan and me. How it was not safe for the two of us to be close to him. And..."

He pleaded with his eyes for Captain Unohana to understand.

"And how though he hated him, he would still follow him. Just so that okaasan and I would finally be safe."

For a moment there was only silence as the two captains soared through the evening sky on Minazuki, one contemplating, the other worrying his head out.

'You need not be so worried, Young Master,' again Hyorinmaru's voice echoed in his head.

How could I not?

The white haired boy once again tightened his grip on his zanpakuto, drawing it close to his chest and the feeling that someone was wrapping their arms – or, to be more precise, wings – around him came back.

'The other captains are not without brain or common sense. They must have noticed your reason for keeping silence.'

And if they don't?

'You are not called a prodigy for nothing. I'm sure you'll think of something.'

And if I can't?

A heartfelt chuckle.

'You are full of doubt today, aren't you, Young Master?'

The white haired captain unconsciously pulled his lips into a slight pout, thinking that his doubt was justified. It seemed though that his zanpakutou knew him all too well, since the ice dragon's presence became more prominent around him, to the point that he thought he could see the icy wings wrapped comfortingly around him.

"Toshiro-kun..."

The sound of his name pulled him out of his conversation and he realised with an embarrassed blush that he had been ignoring Captain Unohana.

"I apologise," he said sheepishly, gaze flickered for a moment to see her reaction before darting back to his knees. "I wasn't paying attention."

A hand on his head – ruffling his hair gently – made him averted his gaze back up, to see the benevolent smile that the older captain graced him.

"Have more faith in us, Toshiro-kun," the captain of the fourth division said quietly, removing her hand. Then, seeing the disbelief shown on his face, "We might not understand right away, but we will not forsaken you."

Turning his face to stare at their nearing destination, he thought that his faith alone may not be enough.

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Ukitake Juushiro rubbed his temple in an attempt to alienate – at least partially – the headache that has taken over his whole being. When a hell butterfly flew into his office and informed him of an emergency meeting to be held immediately, he had expected a crisis, a chaos or even a rebellion.

He was not prepared for this.

This being Toshiro-kun bringing in new information about Aizen.

It was in itself surprising. A whole week has not passed since the day they learnt that the three men that they all thought as – maybe not friends, but at least – comrades were in fact traitors. Just how did the little captain, who had spent the last few days unconscious in the fourth division, managed to get informations about Aizen?

When he and the rest of the remaining captains finally heard what the boy had to say, he could not be more bewildered as he was then. And he was very sure that the rest of them felt somewhat the same way.

Why was it that the boy – yes, Toshiro-kun was a boy, which was only being cemented more when he was not wearing his usual shihakusho and haori, but instead a white patient kimono – had to be the one to bear this kind of life? A power so strong that it was enough to make him a captain far before he had even reach adulthood, now a life so full of secrets and deceptions. To think that Aizen had managed to break a family so coldheartedly though unknowing...

Anger was not an emotion that he indulged in often, much less rage. But rage was what he felt for the sacrifice and turmoil that this small family of three had endured. Rage was what he felt in behalf of the selfless man desperate to protect his loved ones. Rage was what he felt towards a man who caused it all. But above all the boiling hot anger, he felt hurt.

Hurt that Toshiro-kun had kept them – him – in the dark about all of these.

"How do we know that you are telling the truth?"

Captain Soifon's voice shook him off of his thinking session and he focused back onto his surrounding. His eyes, just as everone else's, automatically seeked out the small figure standing in front of the Head Captain in between the two rows of captains.

"You don't," came Toshiro-kun's blunt answer. "In the end, it all falls back to the issue of whether you trust me enough to believe me."

"And why should we?"

Ukitake gave the captain of the twelfth division an evil eye for that question, though the scientist did not seem to mind him at all, too focused on the younger white haired captain.

"After all, you have been lying to us since day one. Why trust you now? When all you have been telling us is a big fat lie. This could all be an elaborate scheme to take down the Gotei 13 once and for all. You could be in league with Aizen, doing this to confuse us. To defeat us from the inside."

The room had gotten steadily colder with each sentence said and would have gotten even colder had the head captain not put an end to the glaring contest between the two feuding captains.

"Enough!"

Instantly the cold receded. And the captain of the thirteenth division noticed – with a touch of amusement – that while Captain Kurotsuchi looked indignant at the reprimand, their youngest captain looked properly chastised.

"Kurotsuchi-taicho, that was a dangerous accusation to make. Especially when trust is essential to us. For the sake of our sanity, we will refrain to make baseless accusations. State your suspicions, explain your reasoning and lay down the facts. But keep your assumptions to yourself."

The scowl in captain Kurotsuchi's face told his disagreement, but the eccentric captains stood down nonetheless.

"And Hitsugaya-taicho, keep your temper in check. You are a captain and we are going to treat you as such, regardless of your age. Do not give us reasons to do any different."

There was a shimmer around the boy. Ukitake blinked and looked around, wondering if he was the only one who saw it. From the look of astonishment his best friend shot him form across the room, he definitely wasn't. A small relieved smile bloomed across his lips. It seemed that Hitsugaya Toshiro was not – even physically – standing alone.

"I won't, sir."

A touch of indignation, two of promise and another of determination. Sometimes he marveled at the faith the younger generation had in this old, war-battered one.

"If you would give your answer, Hitsugaya-taicho."

Despite their silence, it seemed that the other captains were intrigued by how the young prodigy will answer. Maybe he was not as healthy as the others, but he did have more experience compared to more than half of the occupants of the room.

"I did not lie to you," the child started calmly, "I told you small facts, you all filled in the holes yourselves. The only way I had been lying to you would be by omission. And for why I have not brought this to light earlier..."

The turquoise orbs stared at the rest of the captains steadily, catching each pair of eyes with a determined gaze.

"Would you have believed me?"

Ukitake blinked at the question spoken by their youngest captain.

"Excuse me?"

The captain of the thirteenth division averted his head towards the source of the indignant exclamation, head still reeling from the cold accusation voiced by the boy he saw as a grandson of a sort.

Captain Komamura looked just as indignant as he sounded.

Toshiro-kun did not even blink, merely repeated almost emotionlessly.

"Would you have believed me? If I had come to you with this information any earlier."

Silence descended into the room and he felt dread started to fill his heart. As he was sure the other captains were also doing right now, his mind began to formulate scenarios as to what would have happened if Toshiro-kun had brought his tale forward before Aizen's betrayal was well known.

"Aizen had been a captain far longer than I."

His head jerked up at the quiet voice of the white haired boy. It seemed to him that Toshiro-kun had decided to elaborate what most likely would have happened.

"You've known him for a longer period of time that you've known me. You've fought more battles and crisis with him than with me. Naturally, you trusted him more than me. If it comes down to either his word or mine, I am sure that you would have believed his. Especially when I had nothing but my words to give. No proof to show. Not to mention, it would throw what otousan had been working on down the drain."

He flinched when the word father left the boy's lips. Ichimaru Gin. How far had they misjudged him.

For there was not a speck of doubt in his heart that Toshiro-kun had been telling the truth.

"You wouldn't have believed me. Perhaps I would have been thrown into a cell for trying to frame a captain. Then perhaps next Aizen would go after otousan, for he would have realised whose son I was. Then perhaps after that he would go after me. Then okaasan too, just to be sure. Perhaps even oneesan and obaasan."

His dread grew as Toshiro-kun mentioned all of his family members, for he did not doubt that it was exactly what Aizen would have done if something was threatening his plan.

A whole family. Torn apart just because of a single man.

"We see your point, Hitsugaya-taicho," the calm voice of Kuchiki Byakuya echoed inside the room. "And I agree that what you did is the best course of action to be taken with the circumstances. You have my support."

"And you know you have mine," Captain Unohana spoke up as well.

A determined glint in his eyes, Ukitake decided that it was time to show that not once had he doubt the boy's words, "And mine as well, Toshiro-kun."

"You heard him," his best friend's voice floated in next. "And it is the same for me too."

"That is almost half of us chose to believe Hitsugaya-taicho," the head captain's booming voice addressed them. "And what about the second, seventh, eleventh and twelfth division?"

"The kid's okay," the rough voice of Zaraki Kenpachi actually sounded bored. "He's good with Yachiru and a good sparring opponent. He has always had my trust."

Ukitake smiled hearing the unexpected announcement, feeling unashamedly amused at the shocked look on Toshiro-kun's face.

"That is not a good reason to put your trust on someone," Captain Soifon shot an annoyed look at the huge man. "But in this case, I agree that Hitsugaya-taicho is probably telling the truth."

"Any information on Aizen is welcome," Captain Komamura seemed to have calmed down. "Hitsugaya-taicho's tale is as good as any we are going to have at the moment."

Silence once again descended.

"And what about you, Kurotsuchi-taicho?" The head captain prompted.

The eccentric captain of the twelfth division narrowed his eyes, "I will believe him. Once I had the proof that you are really who you said you are."

Ukitake narrowed his eyes, feeling rather vindictive, "Explain."

Captain Kurotsuchi's bored gaze bore onto him, "Not all of us are sentimental idiots. So the kid got a sob story, I say screw it. Give me an irrefutable evidence, then I'll believe it."

"And just how do you propose we do it, Kurotsuchi-taicho," the head healer's voice remained calm. Something that Ukitake – reluctant though he was to admit it – admired of Captain Unohana.

"Give the boy to me. I can conduct a test whether he really is Ichimaru Gin's son. And if he really does have this eidetic memory he claims to have."

"I will consent to that."

To his surprise, it was Toshiro-kun's voice that answered that proposal. His eyes, as were the others, immediately drawn to the white haired boy's unflinching turquoise gaze. Determination can clearly be seen on the boy's expression, lips pulled into a stubborn line.

"If it would clear any doubt about my tale, then I have no problem undergoing these tests."

"Very well," the head captain once again took hold of the situation. "Kurotsuchi-taicho, you are to report the results to me once you have them."

The captain of the research division of Gotei 13 bowed lightly.

Captain Unohana cut in then, "But do remember that Hitsugaya-taicho is not an experiment, Kurotsuchi-taicho. Do what you are asked to. Not more."

Ukitake was ticked when the scientist only grinned in reply.

"Dismissed!"

k59: As always, finally done after a very long wait.. Special thanks to Ari 347 for beta-ing this chapter and becoming my resounding board to whom I bounced my ideas.. I really, really appreciate it^^ Also, thank you all who are still here with me.. I'll do my best for the next chapter.. Any critics are welcomed :D

To anonymous reviewers:

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